Round-the-Clock Purple and Gold

Lakers draft pick Andrew Goudelock considers overseas options

November 15, 2011 | 3:32
pm

By Christmas time, it's possible Lakers guard Andrew Goudelock will have at least one gift to add to his holiday wish list.

Finding a professional gig overseas. Should the NBA fail to reach a new collective bargaining agreement by then, Goudelock's agent, Austin Walton, said he will aggressively pursue those options. He has good reason to think that might happen considering the players union disbanded and the NBA formally announced it has canceled its games through Dec. 15.

"There might not be an option if 30 guys sign from now and then. I don't know how people will react to the news [Monday]," said Walton, who represents Goudelock through Walton Sports Management Group. "We'll see. Maybe we'll have the options that we had earlier and we'll revisit those."

Either way, Walton has shifted his strategy regarding Goudelock's off-season ventures because of the lockout. Walton said in late August that he declined eight overseas offers for Goudelock because most of them didn't have opt-out clauses that would allow him to join the Lakers if part of the 2011-2012 NBA season was salvaged. Goudelock also declined offers, including ones from CB Lucentum Alicante of the Spanish professional basketball league Liga ACB [link in Spanish] and from the Skyliners Frankfurt of Germany's Basketball Bundesliga [link in Germany], because he planned to finish his sociology degree at the College of Charleston. With Goudelock's semester ending Dec. 18, Walton believes pursuing overseas options for the Lakers rookie guard after Christmas seems reasonable since he's likely going to visit family during the holidays.

For now, Goudelock's compensated for lacking an NBA contract in other ways. Walton said Goudelock signed a two-year endorsement deal with the Chinese shoe company, Peak, which will give him an unspecified amount of money and unlimited apparel. Goudelock said earlier this month that he's taught personal training sessions to Cougar athletes to help pay for his college expenses. And lastly, Walton said Goudelock also appeared in a number of unspecified autograph signings.

"We're still staying the course," said Walton, who added Goudelock also received offers from teams in Turkey and France. "He's not serious up to this point, but we'll route it out."